'Krull' (1983)

Work, and life in general really, has been giving me a bit of a kicking this last week. Nothing serious, just the odd tap here and there to let me know that life keeps ticking on and there are loads of things that should have been handed in or done an hour ago. Loads to do and not quite enough time in the day to get them all done (or Graeme to do it all). It's the way it goes and it could be a lot worse so I won't complain too much, just going to be really glad when it gets to the weekend...

So, not a complaint then but definitely me getting all my excuses in early for why there haven't really been any books (apart from a Judge Dredd story) mentioned this week. I'm working on it and hopefully things will get back to normal soon, fingers crossed.

In the meantime though, what does a Graeme do when he's been up against it all day, wants to relax but is too tired for a book? Put a movie on course but you knew that already :o) Watching 'Conan' movies has got me in the mood for more nineteen eighties 'Sword and Sorcery' movies which can only mean that I'll be watching 'Ladyhawke' in the near future. But not today... Today was all about 'Krull', a movie that I always forget that I've seen before until I watch it again... Which might tell you something about how I find watching it...

On the planet of Krull, an evil creature called the Beast decimates the world's army and kidnaps the lovely Princess Lyssa, who is destined to become queen. The brave Prince Colwyn leads a motley band of warriors to rescue his beloved. However, before he can face the Beast, Colwyn must locate a mystical weapon known as the Glaive, which he can use to slay the hideous villain. He must also find out where the Beast's castle will be as it teleports to a different part of Krull every morning.

'Krull' is a weird one. I can always remember the bit with the spider but can't remember seeing any of the rest of it. 'Oh, I must have seen a Youtube clip', I think to myself but then I watch it and I remember that I have seen it after all. At least this time I have a DVD (and this blog post, come to think of it) to remind myself that I've seen more than just the spider :o)

'Krull' looks lovely, just as you'd expect someone trying to grab some of that 'Star Wars', or 'Conan', action to make a fantasy/sci-fi movie. You wouldn't have thought that mix would work but aliens fighting knights in armour worked surprisingly well for me. It just felt that the move lent a bit of an edge to the film and made me want to keep watching. But yeah, the backdrop to the film just looks amazing and leaves you in no doubt that you're in 'fantasy land'. Especially inside the Beast's castle. Is the castle actually the Beast...? I don't know but it could be.

It's a bit of a shame then that the plot itself doesn't quite match up the expectations that the backdrop sets. We're looking at a fairly bog standard 'rescue the Princess' plot that doesn't really spark much excitement and may well be why I tend to forget large chunks of the movie. Where the fun lies for me is in how the cast tackle the less than inspiring premise. Ken Marshall's puppy dog enthusiasm carries the movie forward through the slightly dull moments and makes you forget that a lot of the quest actually works out incredibly conveniently for the heroes (well, apart from the dead ones but even so, they just happen to find super fast horses at just the right time...?) David Battley's Ergo provides a few touching moments as well where he looks to cheer up his young charge with the gift of a dog... My room somehow got incredibly dusty in those moments.

And is that Liam Neeson riding in the background? And less well known but still very cool if you're a 'Grange Hill' fan, is that Todd Carty exhorting the men to follow Prince Colwyn? Yes on both counts and it was great to see. And Bernard Bresslaw too, it made me feel properly old but that was a nice moment too.

So, a bit of a pedestrian plot but a cast who are willing to do whatever is needed to push it over the line in the best way. And there are some very watchable moments including the assault on the Beast's castle, aliens fighting knights in armour and a changeling in a swamp. And not forgetting (I almost forgot) the Widow of the Web and her monstrous guardian, I found out that still creeps me out... 'Krull' is very much a movie where you have to accept a lack of ambition in the plot and just go with the cool moments of which there are many. You'll enjoy it, you won't be able to help yourself. If you're like me though, you may end up forgetting most of it...

(I don't get all that fuss about the Glaive though, it's hardly in the film...)